From News Papers

STAND- UP INDIA: Loans of more than 15,000 entrepreneurs approved

Stand- Up India was launched on 5th April, 2016 by the PM Shri Narendra Modi. To support entrepreneurship among women and SC & ST communities by facilitating bank loans between 10 lakh and 1 Crore to them is the main objective of this scheme.
The main achievements of this scheme include;
Loans of more than 15,000 entrepreneurs approved out of which more than 80% are women.
500 crore has been allotted in 2016-17 financial year.
As on 29 March, 2017 a total of Rs. 5237.29 crore sanctioned by the government.
Capital subsidy under a new scheme ATUFS (Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme) in Textile Sector will also create over 30 lakh jobs, especially for women.

BIG BOOST FOR PM MODI’S BLACK MONEY DRIVE

In a major boost to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and his fight against black money that is stashed away in overseas tax havens, Switzerland has found India’s data security and confidentiality laws “adequate” for entering into an automatic exchange of information pact.
This move will open a continuous access to details about alleged black money hoarders in once-all-secret Swiss banks. In a detailed notification and fact sheet published in its official gazette, the Swiss government has also cited decisions by other financial centres like Liechtenstein and Bahamas to enter into similar pacts.

SMART FENCE FOR PAKISTAN BORDER by March

The BSF has said that sealing India’s border with Pakistan is one of the topmost priorities. DG of BSF, K K Sharma, said ‘smart fence’ would be placed at the International Border (IB) along the Jammu sector by March, 2018. The technology-based fencing system, which would detect all forms of intrusion along the border, is being designed with the intent to curb the infiltration of Pakistani militants using the porous borders.

INDIA WILL ELIMINATE LITERACY IN NEXT FIVE YEARS

Union HRD Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar said that India would eliminate illiteracy in the next five years. There was a literacy rate of 18 per cent in the post-independence era. Today, it has gone up to 80 per cent and I guarantee that within the next five years, it will be 100 per cent. There will be no illiteracy in the country,” he said.
Shri Javadekar was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the ‘Festival of Education’ that was jointly organised by the Rajasthan government and Gems Education India. He spoke about roping in youngsters and emphasized on making learning more enjoyable in order to keep a check on dropouts.

LPG SUBSIDY FOR POOR TO STAY

Union Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan said the subsidy on LPG cylinder for domestic use for the poor will continue. “We have no plan to withdraw subsidy on LPG for domestic use. Subsidy on LPG and kerosene will continue for the poor and common people,” Shri Pradhan said. To tackle the LPG crisis in the North-East, he said the ministry has taken up with Bangladesh the laying of a pipeline to carry natural gas from Chittagong to Tripura. “We are laying a pipeline for transportation of diesel from Siliguri in West Bengal to Parvatipur in Bangladesh. There is a pipeline for carrying diesel from Numaligarh oil refinery in Assam to Siliguri,” he said.

I-T RETURNS SURGE 25 PER CENT POST DEMONETISATION

The positive impact of demonetisation is getting more pronounced as the number of income tax (I-T) returns filed for 2016-17 year grew by 25 per cent to 2.82 crore, the tax department said. “As a result of demonetisation and Operation Clean Money, there is a substantial increase in the number of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) filed,” the department said. The I-T department had then launched operation clean money to clamp down on unaccounted money funnelled into bank accounts post demonetisation. Advance tax collections of personal income tax (other than corporate tax) as on August 5 showed a growth of about 41.79 per cent over the corresponding period in 2016-17. Personal income tax under self assessment tax grew at 34.25 per cent over the corresponding period in 2016-17.

Countering allegations that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) can be tampered, the Election Commission of India has informed the Supreme Court that it will deploy more than 16 lakh EVMs with a paper trail to cover polling stations in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The poll panel submitted an affidavit before the top court giving an assurance that machines will be equipped with the technology to make the election process more transparent for the next general elections. Refuting the charges of tampering, the affidavit said technological features with administrative safeguards defined by the commission make EVMs foolproof not only during elections but also during manufacturing, storage and transportation.

MUGHALSARAI RAILWAY STATION RENAMED AFTER PT. DEENDAYAL UPADHYAYA

MHA approved a UP Government’s proposal to rename Mughalsarai railway station near Varanasi as Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (DDU) station, after Bharatiya Jana Sangh icon Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya. Pt. Upadhyaya was found dead in 1968 under mysterious circumstances on one of the platforms of Mughalsarai railway station. Mughalsarai junction, the fourth busiest railway station in the country, is located on the main Howrah-Delhi Grand Chord line.